According to sources, a group of 20 activists entered the Pharmacology building's animal housing facility on the fourth floor at around 6 PM. Within minutes, they were able to remove 8 beagles, 3 golden retrievers, 12 rabbits, and several mice and rats. Students and university staff, including researchers, were present inside the building at the time of the raid. They escaped by breaking a chain on a back door before students and staff were fully aware of what was happening.

Police and university officials had made an comical attempt to scare the activists into revealing themselves by sending out an alert stating that some of the rabbits had been treated with a deadly smallpox vaccine and posed a danger to anyone who came in physical contact with the animals. This obviously proved to be a hoax and no further statements have been made by police or the university.

The Pharmacology department has been a recent target of various direct actions and demonstrations, including one other recent ALF action in which 12 goats were rescued from a farm belonging to the university's Agriculture Department.

Video footage taken shortly before a daylight raid at the Pharmacology Department of Milano University in Italy.